Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and FY 2026 tax revenues are projected to rebound to positive growth, after non-surtax revenue declines in FY 2022 and FY 2023; but overarching questions about the global economy and federal policy changes cloud the state’s...

The standard model for the role central business districts play in cities across the country has been forever disrupted by the pandemic. Reductions to in-person work have a cascade effect on commercial real estate, public finance, and city vibrancy...

The MBTA has made important strides. It increased its operating staff by 1,200 since June 2022 and has improved its handling of safety and service issues that have plagued the Authority for several years. However, it still has a long uphill climb....

Policymakers used additional state and federal resources during the pandemic to make a significant investment in the state’s workforce development system. These workforce investments all share a common goal; to address labor shortages in critical...

Workforce challenges at the MBTA have received extensive reporting in recent years. Those challenges took on a new sense of urgency in 2022 when a safety management inspection by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) found that the MBTA needed to...

On January 24th, the Healey-Driscoll administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget proposal, with significant investments in childcare, education, and transportation. The $58.13 billion spending plan is a $2.1 billion increase (3.7 percent...

The Healey administration filed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget proposal on January 24th, totaling $58.13 billion. The spending plan includes critical investments in healthcare and education, as well as a notable funding increase for transportation...

The following brief provides an analysis of state workforce investments in state budgets from FY 2019 to FY 2023 organized in MTF’s training opportunities for state-serving populations workforce category. As MTF noted in our earlier introductory...

On November 16, the MBTA presented an updated analysis of its State of Good Repair (SGR) Index, which measures the Authority’s capital asset needs, to the Board of Directors (here) in which it revised the SGR Index to $24.5 billion from the most...

Tax revenues for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and FY 2025 settle into a post-COVID pattern of lower growth as the economy slows, impacts from migration and an aging population emerge (Appendix A), and tax reforms take effect. Excluding revenues related to...